The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and their methods of fabrication. More particularly, the present invention relates to calcium-doping of a copper surface (e.g., interconnect material) and resultant devices utilizing such a process. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to reducing and minimizing carbon, sulphur, and oxygen impurities in a calcium-doped copper interconnect surface.
Currently, the semiconductor industry is demanding faster and denser devices (e.g., 0.05xcexcm to 0.25-xcexcm) which implies an ongoing need for low resistance metallization. Such need has sparked research into resistance reduction through the use of barrier metals, stacks, and refractor metals. Despite aluminum""s (Al) adequate resistance, other Al properties render it less desirable as a candidate for these higher density devices, especially with respect to its deposition into plug regions having a high aspect ratio cross-sectional area. Thus, research into the use of copper as an interconnect material has been revisited, copper being advantageous as a superior electrical conductor, providing better wettability, providing adequate electromigration resistance, and permitting lower depositional temperatures. Cu interconnect material may be deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), sputtering, electroless plating, and electrolytic plating. However, some disadvantages of using Cu as an interconnect material include etching problems, corrosion, and diffusion into silicon. These problems have sparked further research into the formulation of barrier materials for Cu, which in turn, identified another host of problems associated with the barrier materials themselves (e.g., contamination).
1Peter Van Zant, Microchip Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Semiconductor Processing, 3rd Ed., p. 397 (1997). 
In response to interconnect impurity level concerns relating to the fabrication of semiconductor devices having doped copper interconnect surfaces, the industry has been utilizing chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods. Ca, if used as a dopant, would be an inherently highly reactive element in air; therefore, a Ca-doped Cu surface would behave similarly. Contamination in the doped Cu surfaces is especially problematic when wet-chemical chemical methods are used for processing. Doped Cu surfaces have been found to be highly susceptible to carbon (C), sulphur (S), and oxygen (O) contamination, forming an impure layer on the order of 10-20 xc3x85 in thickness, as characterized by AES/XPS methods. However, although CVD has been conventionally used for depositing other metal(s) on an interconnect surface, CVD is not a cost-effective method of doping Cu interconnect surfaces with Ca ions. Therefore, a need exists for providing a method of fabricating a semiconductor device by doping a Cu interconnect surface and by cost-effectively removing the contaminant layer of the doped Cu surface.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of fabricating a semiconductor device having contaminant-free Ca-doped Cu surfaces formed on Cu interconnects by cost-effectively depositing a Cuxe2x80x94Caxe2x80x94X surface (e.g., a Cuxe2x80x94Caxe2x80x94O surface) and subsequently removing the contaminant layer contained therein; and a device thereby formed. Formation of the Cuxe2x80x94Caxe2x80x94X surface, where the contaminant X=C, S, or O, removal of such contaminant from the Cuxe2x80x94Caxe2x80x94X surface is achieved by (a) immersing the Cu interconnect surface into an electroless plating solution comprising Cu salts, Ca salts, their complexing agents, a reducing agent, a pH adjuster, and at least one surfactant for facilitating Ca-doping of the Cu interconnect material; and (b) annealing of the Cuxe2x80x94Caxe2x80x94X surface under vacuum onto the underlying Cu interconnect material to form a Cuxe2x80x94Ca film on Cu interconnect structure, thereby producing a uniform Cuxe2x80x94Ca film (i.e., Cu-rich with 0.2-5% Ca) on the Cu surface of an interconnect for maximizing Caxe2x80x94Cu/Cu interconnect structure reliability, electromigration resistance, and corrosion prevention. The annealing step primarily removes O and secondarily removes C and S, especially when performed under vacuum, an inert gas, or a reducing ambient such as ammonia (NH3) plasma. Thus, the resultant device then comprises a distinctive contaminant-reduced Caxe2x80x94Cu/Cu interconnect structure.